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Trench Warfare, Poison Gas, and Machine Guns
Trenches were long, deep ditches dug as protective defenses—are most often associated with World War I, and the results of trench warfare in that conflict were hellish indeed. Poison gas, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the western front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium. This was the first major gas attack by the Germans, and it devastated the Allied line. -
Assissination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by a Bosnian Serb nationalist during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The sinking of the Cunard ocean liner RMS Lusitania occurred on Friday, 7 May 1915 during the First World War, as Germany waged submarine warfare against the United Kingdom which had implemented a naval blockade of Germany. -
Zimmerman Telegram
The Zimmermann Telegram was part of an effort carried out by the Germans to postpone the transportation of supplies and other war materials from the United States to the Allied Powers that were at war with Germany. The opening line of the Zimmerman telegram announces Germany's intention to resume unrestricted submarine warfare against their enemies. This type of naval warfare had already resulted in U.S. casualties, both in terms of the loss of ships and the death of U.S. citizens. -
U.S. entry into WWI
The date of US entry into WW1 was April 6, 1917 when the nation was drawn into World War 1 on the side of the Allies. The United States of America entered the conflict, two and a half years after the war had begun on July 28, 1914, and declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. The United States entered the war because of the Germans' decision to resume the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, and the so-called "Zimmerman telegram". -
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution across the territory of the Russian Empire which started with the abolishment of monarchy and concluded with the establishment of the Soviet Union by the Bolsheviks and the end of the civil war.The Russian Revolution of 1917 involved the collapse of an empire under Tsar Nicholas II and the rise of Marxian socialism under Lenin and his Bolsheviks. It sparked the beginning of a new era in Russia that had effects on countries. -
Battle of Argonne Forest
The Battle of Argonne Forest was part of what became known as the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the last battle of World War I . It was a massive attack along the whole line, with the immediate goal of reaching the railroad junction as Sedan. The US had over 1 million troops now available to fight.The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the greatest American battle of the First World War. In six weeks 26,277 killed and 95,786 wounded. -
Armistice
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War I between the Allies and their opponent, Germany. Previous armistices had been agreed with Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. -
Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points
The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918, speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson.Wilson believed the peace treaty should go easy on the defeated Central Powers. He believed a harsh treaty, which was being proposed by Britain, France, and Italy, would come back and haunt the Allies. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (French: Traité de Versailles) was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers.The Paris Peace Conference opened on January 18, 1919, with the goal of developing a treaty that would punish Germany and meet the goals of the various Allied Powers. Negotiating the treaty, which would be known as the Treaty of Versailles, was a long and complex process.
